


A Little Bit Of Luck

by Onthewayyyy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Romance, Sorta Enemies to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:00:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24029269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onthewayyyy/pseuds/Onthewayyyy
Summary: Harry Potter has absolutely horrid luck, not just in life (cough, Voldemort) but with girls too. So when a mishap during Herbology brings one Tracey Davis into his life, he's determined not to muck it up. Set in sixth year.
Relationships: Harry Potter & Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger & Daphne Greengrass, Hermione Granger & Harry Potter, Hermione Granger & Harry Potter & Ron Weasley, Tracey Davis & Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis/Harry Potter
Comments: 8
Kudos: 71





	1. Nice going, Potter.

_"What d'you reckon?"_

_"We're fucked, mate."_

_"Thanks, Ron."_

_Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter waiting until the very last moment to study for a potions test, March 14th, 1995._

* * *

_**September 2nd, 1996**_

" _Seriously,_ Potter?!" 

Harry hated his life.

It'd had been a perfectly normal Herbology class, the first one of term as a matter of fact, and it was going well, Harry could practically taste the outstanding mark. He even managed to have a semi civil go at it too considering his partner. For when the trio entered the classroom, Hermione immediately partnered up with Ron, as Professor Sprout had told them they'd be moving onto plants that required more than one person to handle safely.

Neville was also out of the question as he paired up with a equally flustered and blushing Hannah Abbot, leaving Harry to fend for himself. That is, until _she_ approached him. 

_"Potter."_

_Harry looked to his right, a little frightened by what he saw._

_A clearly aggravated Tracey Davis, not looking him in the eyes._

_"What?"_

_"We're partners." She deadpanned._

_"Surely there's someone else you can-" He tried._

_"Potter! Davis! Pair up and get started!"_

_"Apparently not." She said._

That awkward start aside, it went rather well for a little while all things considered. Turns out, Tracey had an aptitude for Herbology. 

Which made it all the more ironic when she was grossed out by the things. 

_"It's a miracle you were even able to pass in the previous years." He remarked cheekily._

_Davis didn't respond, she merely gave Harry a rather impressive death glare._

_The little plant was currently chewing up some of the chunks of meat they fed it, sucking out the nutrients and then regurgitating the rest. Which... was not fun to watch if Harry said so himself, and Tracey agreed in a comedic way, by jerking her head to the side so she could avoid watching._

_Oh, and also connecting right with Harry's elbow as he also turned away to avoid the gruesome sight._

_A crack was heard that was swiftly followed by a yelp and a curse._

_Yada, yada, yada. Pretty Slytherin girl on the floor, looking bloody furious with him._

Back to the present now.

"Fuck, Potter! Don't just stand there!"

Did he mention that he hated his life?

Thankfully he was saved by Professor Sprout, "Ms. Davis! Language! What's happened here?"

With blood pouring out of her nose, the brown haired witch fixed Harry with yet another death glare.

"Potter elbowed me!" She exclaimed.

"On accident." He defended himself.

" _Episkey._ " Sprout intoned gently. 

Davis gave out a sigh of relief and let her hand drop from her nose. 

"Mr. Potter, take Ms. Davis here to the hospital wing, just in case." She said.

Did Harry say "saved"? He meant betrayed.

Davis clearly felt the same, "What?" They both said at the same time.

Sprout rolled her eyes at the two of them, "I'll hear none of it, go along now."

After she bustled away to check on the progress of the rest of the class, Harry held out a tentative hand for Davis, one which she ignored with a scoff.

"It wasn't my hand you broke, Potter." 

He sighed, this was going to be _fun_.

* * *

Their walk to the hospital wing was in silence, and upon their arrival, Madame Pomfrey was immediately checking Harry over. 

"What is it this time, any cuts, missing bones?"

 _Missing bones?_

Tracey gave a start at this, she vaguely remembered something happening during a Quidditch game during their second year with that fool of a professor Lockhart, but she'd hardly cared enough to check it out for herself. 

Potter just chuckled, "No, no I'm not here for me, I'm here for her actually." He said, jabbing a thumb in her direction.

Pomfrey straightened up immediately, glancing over at Tracey. 

"For you, dear? What happened?"

Tracey shrugged nonchalantly, "Potter broke my nose."

"It was an accident!" He said in exasperation.

She smirked. 

"Professor Sprout fixed it, but sent us up here anyway." Tracey explained. 

The matron nodded knowingly, "Ah yes, Pomona was never quite good at healing spells."

She waved her wand around Tracey for a few moments, wand lighting up with all the colours of the rainbow and muttering spells that the Slytherin girl mostly didn't recognize. 

"You seem to be fine." Pomfrey concluded before turning her attention to Potter. "Now what about you?"

Potter gulped, "What about me?" He said with a touch of fear.

"Does your side still hurt?" She asked, already doing the same with him that she did with Tracey, but this time it was with a sense of motherly worry.

"Not even a bit." He told her, a small smile on his face.

Pomfrey stared at him for a few moments, trying to sniff out a lie, but either Potter was telling the truth, or he was one hell of a liar, because eventually she moved on.

"What about your scar?"

"Hasn't hurt in months." He stated happily, although it sounded forced.

"Your scar hurts sometimes?" Tracey blurted out, and then promptly going pink at the outburst.

"On occasion." Potter admitted. 

Pomfrey clucked her tongue at him, " _On_ _occasion_ "?

"Okay, it _used_ to hurt often, but it's all good now." He amended.

"Uh huh." The matron said suspiciously.

"I'm _fine,_ Poppy." He whined a little.

Tracey thought for sure that the medi witch would skin him alive for using her first name, but she only rolled her eyes at the boy.

"This reminds me of something that happened to your parents in their time here, only with a potion burn during professor Slughorn's class." She said matter of factly. 

Potter perked up at this, looking what could only be described as shyly giddy at the chance to hear stories about his parents.

Tracey wanted to leave, the examination had been done, and she was quite tired of being in Potter's presence. She was about to voice this when Pomfrey spoke up about his parents. She softened at his expression, Tracey would have to be heartless to take this away from him. 

"Really?" He asked, looking like a child on Christmas day.

Madam Pomfrey made a noise indicating the affirmative, "They had been paired up for a particularly difficult potion, and James, being the buffoon he was, spilled the entire assignment all over Lily whilst trying to flirt with her." 

Potter snorted derisively at his father's antics, and Tracey had to admit that it _was_ quite humorous. 

"Keep in mind, Lily still hated your father's guts at this point, but their day here certainly steered them in the right direction." 

"I can't imagine that." Potter said, still smiling.

"I didn't believe it at first either, but James' maturity and sincere apology really took Lily by surprise. Took all of us by surprise to be honest." Pomfrey replied. "I can see that your friend here wants to leave however, and there's still a little bit left of class, so I'll spare you the stories."

Potter looked very much like he wanted to stay and hear what else the matron had to say, but one look at Tracey and his expression crumpled a little. 

"Yeah, alright." He said.

As they left, Potter spoke up once again.

"Thanks for letting me hear that, I'm sure you didn't want to stay." 

"Don't mention it, I know what that's like." She replied honestly

"You do?" He asked, looking a little incredulous.

Tracey nearly snapped at him, but thought better of it as they walked down a flight of stairs. 

"Yes, I never knew my parents either, I'm told they died during the first war shortly after having me."

"Sorry." Potter said quietly.

"S'okay, it doesn't bother me anymore." She responded. 

He nodded and they continued on their way. Potter had been different than what she was expecting, not pompous or arrogant like Draco would have the rest of their house believe. Although, Tracey should have known better than to listen to anything the ferret had to say. 

When they arrived back at the greenhouses, class was nearly over, but they got there just in time to hear Professor Sprout's announcement. 

"The plants will only get more difficult from here on out, whoever your partners were today, consider them permanent for the foreseeable future. Class dismissed." 

Tracey held back a groan, and Potter didn't seem too enthusiastic about it either. 

"See you around, Potter." Tracey said, bidding him goodbye and leaving him with Granger and Weasley as she joined Pansy and Daphne so they leave the greenhouses together.

Her two friends shot questioning looks at Potter as they departed, although Daphne was far more subtle about it.

"How did that go?" Pansy asked.

Tracey shrugged nonchalantly, "It was fine minus the whole nose breaking thing, he's not as bad as everyone thinks."

Pansy snorted, "Right." 

Daphne looked contemplative but didn't say anything. 

_Some things never change_ , she mused.

* * *

Sweat dripped down her brow as she worked nonstop on her potion, today was the first potions class of term, and Professor Slughorn decided that a little competition was in order. At first, Tracey loathed the idea of having go all out this early in the school year, but once she saw what was up for grabs, she quickly set off to work.

Even the most lazy students immediately perked up at the prospect of a luck potion. Weasley was hard at work for once, although his expression was grim, and even Draco was doing his best, a far cry from the state of depression he had been in thus far. Potter was doing good as well it seemed, as after every ingredient or instruction was followed, his face lit up more and more. 

Daphne seemed to be doing decent, while Pansy looked downright _afraid_ of her potion. It was a bloody miracle Pansy got an exceeds expectations last year from Snape, although being in Slytherin house had its perks when your teacher was the head of said house. As time went on Tracey found herself becoming more and more frustrated with the assignment.

Sure, Tracey knew she wasn't some potions prodigy, but she didn't take failure well to say the least. Add on top of this the stories that she had heard from her aunt about Felix Felicis, having taken it herself years ago, it was maddening to have it so close yet so far.

"Five minutes left," Slughorn chimed. "Best to start wrapping it up now."

Wrapped it up she did, but even when Slughorn called for time, it was clear the potion was unfinished. 

"Not bad, Ms. Davis, but not quite there yet. It also appears you've forgotten a key ingredient in valerian sprigs." He said as the leaf he had dropped in there slowly melted away, not disintegrating like it was meant to. "I believe that's an acceptable." 

Tracey felt like screaming, inwardly cursing herself for her forgetfulness, a part of Tracey that always seemed to come back to bite her in the ass. She nodded with a strained smile on her face. and watched as the portly professor inspect the other student's potions. He had varying degrees of fear on his face when viewing the work of Draco and Weasley, which Tracey found comedic.

Some other students were able to get positive feedback, including Granger, who scored an exceeds expectation much to her chagrin. Granger's bushy hair was even more crazy than usual, due to the sweltering hot classroom, Tracey could barely see her face through the mess. When it was Potter's turn, Slughorn let out a booming laugh. At first, Tracey thought the professor was making fun of his attempt. 

She was quickly proven wrong.

"My word! Harry m'boy, I daresay this is the best draught of living death I've received in years! Why not since your mother attended Hogwarts!" Slughorn clapped Potter on the back, shaking the boy slightly. Nothing would wipe that grin off Potter's face though, not even Granger's quite humorous death glare at her friend.

"That is an outstanding if I've ever seen one, and the best potion brewed today I'd say! You are the rightful recipient of little Felix here." Slughorn said dramatically, before taking the tiny vial out from its stand, and handing it over to Potter. "Use it well."

There was a smattering of applause from a few members of the classroom, Pansy and Draco obviously did not partake, but even Tracey had to concede that it was impressive, Potter had never shown such an aptitude in potions, although that was more than likely due to Snape's incessant bullying over the years. It still didn't explain the sudden flourishing though, so with a rush of courage from an unknown origin, Tracey caught up with Potter as they filled out the classroom. 

"Potter!" She called out.

He turned, a look of surprise clear as day on his face. 

"How did you manage that outstanding?" Tracey asked.

Potter looked a little uncomfortable at her question, or maybe at her mere choice to engage him in conversation. Perhaps a mixture of both? Regardless, he quickly tucked something away into his bag before clearing his throat to answer.

Or at least, he tried to. Tracey quickly snatched what turned out to be just a potions textbook out of his hands, ignoring the startled "Hey!" he let out.

What in the bloody hell did he do to this book?

Each page had writing scribbled into the margins of nearly every line, correcting some of the instructions. She quickly deduced that he couldn't have done this, as she'd seen him and Weasley scramble for the books at the start of class when they had shown up late. Tracey's eyes widened as she realized what this was.

"You cheated?" She exclaimed.

Potter brought his hands up to shush her, "Not so _loudly,_ please."

Tracey grinned at him, "You actually cheated to win! I'm _impressed,_ Potter."

"That means so much coming from you." Was his sarcastic reply.

"Here," She said, handing his book back to him. "You've got to let me have a peek at that thing in the future." 

He snorted, "Not without dinner and a show." 

"What?"

Potter raised his eyebrow at her, "You don't get it?"

Tracey didn't take kindly to being looked at like that, "Get _what,_ exactly?"

"Repeat what you said before."

Oh. _Ohhh._

Her expression must have said it all, because he had the audacity to laugh at her undoubtedly burning cheeks and mortified face. 

"Um, I gotta go." She said, practically dashing away from him, Pansy and Daphne sending her questioning looks.

They'd receive absolutely _no_ answers.

* * *

On the way back to their own respective common room, the "Golden Trio" had a conversation that was similar to the one of the three Slytherin girls from a few hours previous. 

"How'd it go with the snake, mate?" 

"Ronald!" 

"What? Don't pretend you haven't been dying to ask him since Herbology!"

Harry shook his head, keeping in a chuckle at his friends antics. 

"It was alright, she's a bit blunt, but she doesn't seem too bad." He admitted, cutting off Hermione's response, not bothering to tell them about the little incident after potions class. 

Ron smirked, "Blunt's just a nicer way of saying rude, eh?" The red head then shrugged, "So long as she didn't hex you I suppose." 

Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation, "Honestly Ron, not every Slytherin is out to get you." 

"Well of course not me, I was talking about Harry." Ron defended himself.

"'Course, I wouldn't mind it if I was Harry, she's bloody fit." He said, almost as an afterthought.

Hermione rounded on him again, "Oh, so as long as she's pretty, the house doesn't matter?" She asked dangerously.

Ron, as oblivious as ever, answered with all the confidence in the world.

"Well yeah, but Davis isn't _just_ pretty 'Mione," He said, before lowering his voice a little so as not to be heard. "She's got a nice arse, too."

"Ron!"

"What?"

This time, Harry _did_ laugh. 

_Some things never change,_ he mused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not too sure where I'm going with this, I just liked the idea of this pairing set during sixth year, sue me. Comments are appreciated!


	2. Watch Where You're Going!

_"Memory's so treacherous...."_

* * *

_**September 7th, 1996**_

"Salt water taffy."

The gargoyle in front of Harry jumped out of the way to allow the young wizard through, and just before he could even knock, Dumbledore's voice rang out.

"Enter."

When he did, he couldn't help but marvel at the room, all the little knick-knacks that the older wizard had acquired over his long life were quite astounding. He ruefully had to admit to himself, that the number of said knick-knacks were lower than the year before, due to Harry's tantrum at the end of his fifth year.

"Ah, Harry, a pleasure to see you. I presume you've noticed my new decor?" He said, gesturing to his walls that now had shelves holding his collections. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at Harry's reddening face. "I have always found my office a little too cluttered, the cleaning was a welcome one. I see you've also garnered yourself a detention from Professor Snape! You've been busy m'boy."

Harry scratched his neck in an effort to quell his embarrassment, "Right, er, you wanted to see me?" 

Dumbledore clapped his hands together, "Yes I'm glad the message got to you alright. To answer your unasked question, one I'm sure is no doubt about how this will help in defeating Voldemort, by delving into Tom Riddle's past, we can ideally use what we learn against him, to know how he ticks, so to speak. I trust you remember what a pensieve is?"

At the boy's nod, Dumbledore continued. 

"Then let's - how does the saying go? - ah yes, take a trip down memory lane. Bob Ogden's specifically."

"Who's Bob Ogden?" 

"He _was_ an employee of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Dumbledore began, taking out the vial that held Ogden's memory. "He died some time ago but not before I was able to persuade him to give me his memory of this particular day." As he tried to twist open the stopper, Dumbledore let out a hiss of pain, nearly dropping it in the process.

"Sir?, Shall I?.." Harry said.

Dumbledore shook his head, clutching the blackened hand to his chest. Instead of trying again, he used his wand to open the vial, before gently pouring its contents into the pensieve.

"Let us go, Harry."

* * *

Under an hour later, Harry was on his way back to the common room. Frustrated as he may be about the lack of training that he originally thought he'd receive, the memory of Bob Ogden had been an eye opening one. To view Voldemort as more than just as a terrifying dark lord was an unwelcome change in perspective, Harry had obviously known he'd had parents, but to see it with his own eyes was different.

He felt sorry for poor Merope, to be treated like that all her life, and to have the false hope of love from Tom Riddle Sr was a depressing watch. Now, Voldemort seemed more human, more like Tom Riddle. These thoughts raged on as he walked through the halls of Hogwarts, not really watching out for where he was going, it was only when he turned a corner and walked right into someone, that Harry realized the pace he was going at.

"Watch it, Potter!"

Ah, bullocks. 

"Sorry, Davis, wasn't paying attention." He apologized.

She scoffed, "Clearly." Davis then appraised him for a moment. "Where are you off to? It's past curfew."

"I had a meeting with Dumbledore." Harry answered immediately, feeling oddly defensive.

Davis quirked an eyebrow at him, "The headmaster of our school invites you to meetings that end up going past curfew?"

"As a matter of fact, he does." 

"Whatever, Potter." 

Harry should've been annoyed at this, at not being believed, but oddly enough he found it a refreshing change to how he'd been treated thus far in the school year. It had only been a week, but Harry found himself being gawked at and fawned over by a good chunk of the female body at Hogwarts. Davis' seeming indifference towards him was a welcome one. 

"What are _you_ doing out here then, Davis?" He countered.

"You might need new glasses, Potter." She said, just as challenging as he had been. 

It was now Harry's turn to look at her curiously, "For what?"

"For _this,_ " Davis repeated, pointing at her chest. 

"I can see the outline of your tits just fine, Davis." Harry deadpanned. 

Her eyes went wide and face went pink at his words, "W-what? Oh _bollocks,_ I forgot my badge!"

He chuckled a little at how panicked she looked, before actually considering her words.

"Badge? Like a prefects badge?"

"The very same," Davis responded, looking a little sheepish. "Draco handed in his badge first day of term, and Pansy of course followed suit soon after, Snape was pissed. Anyway, they replaced them with me and Theodore Nott." 

Harry snorted, Snape being pissed was most likely an understatement. He continued on his way, with Davis still following close behind, to his amusement.

"You gonna follow me all the way back?"

She shrugged, "It beats patrolling this dingy castle, I've been out here for an hour now and I've seen nothing, I'm sure Theo can handle it."

"How chivalrous of you." 

"Ha."

This... was comfortable, the back and forth. Despite Harry's reservations about Davis hating him on principle, she seemed fine in his company. Hell, she seemed more than fine, they shared an easy camaraderie, if one could believe it. They talked on about classes, friends, the ridiculous work load upon them so early in the year. 

"I've already got a huge test coming up for arithmancy and ancient runes." 

"Not to mention an essay in defence and transfiguration." Harry pointed out. 

"Bloody hell, I'd forgotten about that!" 

It went on like this all the way until they reached the common room.

"Y'know," She began. "Six years of classes together and we've never even acknowledged each other's existence, well, maybe I did when you would get into that crazy end of year shit you always seemed to get caught up in. Now we're on semi speaking terms."

"Life's funny like that I guess." He said.

Davis smiled a little, "I guess," She agreed. "Sweet dreams, Potter." 

Harry watched her go, and while he felt like a pig for admitting it, Ron was right about _one_ thing.

"Are you going to give the password?" 

Startled, Harry looked at the portrait of the Fat Lady. 

"Right, er, sorry. _Gallantry._ " 

" _Thank_ Merlin." She said dramatically, before swing open for Harry to walk inside.

"Harry! How'd the lesson go, mate?" 

Ron's voice momentarily surprised him, before he remembered that they said they'd wait for him. 

"No need to ambush him, Ron." Hermione scolded lightly. 

"It was... interesting." Harry said, trying to nip the brewing argument in the bud. He then launched into an explanation of what he'd learned, after all, Dumbledore gave him permission to tell his two best friends. Harry was also able to deflect Hermione's questioning about his potions book.

"Sounds bloody boring." Ron remarked. 

Hermione rolled her eyes but looked like she agreed. 

"I'm sure whatever Professor Dumbledore is showing Harry is important, other wise he wouldn't have brought it up."

Ron turned to look at her, "How is learning about his mum's shitty life going to help Harry?"

Before they could go at it again, Harry intervened with the only thing he could think of.

"I ran into Davis on my way back, turns out she and Nott are prefects now." 

Thankfully, it worked, Ron turned back to him. 

"You walked back here with a snake?" He asked incredulously. 

"Of course that's what he notices." Hermione muttered, shaking her head.

"She's not so bad," Harry said, briefly wondering why he was defending Davis before quickly tossing that thought away. "Quite funny, actually."

"If you say so... at least she's fit." 

Hermione was about to round on Ron again, so Harry spoke up once more. 

"We should go to bed, yeah? I want to get some rest so we can practice tomorrow, tryouts are in a few days." 

Ron nodded, completely oblivious to the angry girl next to him, and then got up to leave for the boys dormitory. 

"Sorry 'Mione, but what're you gonna do?" Harry said in way of apology, before giving his best friend a brief, one armed hug. "Good night."

* * *

_**September 14th, 1996**_

"Come on, Trace! We're gonna be late!"

Tracey sighed, she had no idea what the point of all this was. 

Today was the day that tryouts for the Gryffindor Quidditch team were being held, so naturally as Slytherin's, they were going to disrupt and heckle them. She'd heard of teams doing that before, but it hadn't happened in a few years, why now of all times was the mystery. Or maybe it wasn't such a mystery, what with Potter being the captain of the team this year.

Speaking of Potter, ever since Tracey had walked him back to his common room a week ago, she'd been noticing him more in their classes. Snickering a little at him when he and Snape would get into it almost every class (while also being secretly a little amazed at his skill in said class), to making eye contact with him whenever they crossed paths in the halls.

Thank Merlin none of her friends had noticed it yet, Daphne was a sweetheart despite the unfair "Ice Queen" moniker she had been given, but Pansy was a bigger gossiper than Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. If Pansy found out, Tracey would never hear the end of it, probably something along the lines of "fraternizing with the enemy" or some such rot.

"Trace!" 

"Right, right, I'm coming." 

The trio of Tracey, Daphne, Pansy along with Millicent Bulstrode and Theodore Nott went down to the Quidditch pitch. The idea of creating mischief wasn't really her idea of fun, much less against Potter. This train of though annoyed her slightly, why should she care?

Tracey was too absorbed in her on thoughts to join in on the conversation being had by the others, at least until Daphne tapped her shoulder.

"You okay?" The blonde asked, concern in her eyes.

A smile made its way onto Tracey's face, she _loved_ Daphne, the girl was so caring it hurt. Tracey nodded in answer, and that seemed to convince her best friend for now. 

When they arrived at the pitch, the tryouts had just begun, and it appeared that Potter had everyone doing laps on brooms. Most of the flyers barely made it around once, quite a few of them crashing. She could see Potter's frustration grow as they took their seats on the stands. Granger was there too, but that wasn't a surprise.

As time went on, Potter's mood only grew worse, as it was clear the Slytherins weren't the only ones there to cause a ruckus. For a group of Hufflepuffs bursted out laughing when Potter noticed them, and a small number of Ravenclaw girls just stood around and giggled. 

"If anyone else is here and not in Gryffindor, clear out _now._ " He yelled.

There were a few jeers from Pansy and Theo, as well as Harper and Malcolm Baddock, who showed up a bit after the others.

Potter glanced at them, and locked eyes with her. Tracey couldn't explain it, but a wave of guilt came over her just then. She didn't want to even go in the first place, and now she felt stupid and looked like a git.

"Maybe we should tone it down?" She suggested quietly.

All heads turned towards her, incredulous expressions on each face except for Daphne, who looked like she had a hint of admiration in her eyes.

"What?" Pansy said.

Tracey rushed to defend herself, "I mean look, he's already got enough on his plate with those Puff's and Claw's, let's just head back, yeah?"

Theo spoke next, "You're actually defending Potter?"

" _Merlin,_ no. But surely there's something better we can do with our time? We've got a few essays due in a week..."

"That's in a week, Trace."

"Yeah," She said. "And our work load's insane, you think McGonagall or Flitwick are going to go easy on us? A week is barely enough time as is.

They all looked a little ashamed, and even somewhat alarmed. 

"I guess you're right, I'm shaky in charms already, won't want to make it worse." Pansy admitted.

"I've been slacking on the Defence homework too," Harper said. "I should probably go."

One by one the other Slytherin's followed suit, until it was just Tracey and Daphne left.

They watched the tryout continue in silence, just catching McLaggin make an odd dive to the opposite side of where the quaffle was clearly going. This, was apparently good news, as Granger cheered from somewhere behind her and both Potter and Weasley had matching grins on their faces. McLaggin looked quite pissed, arguing with Potter before stalking off angrily. Serves him right, she'd heard the stories, he was a git. 

Speaking of Granger, Tracey felt a tap on her shoulder, when she turned around, she was met with Granger's tentative smile. 

"I heard what you said earlier, whether you meant it or not, I'll be sure to let him know," She said, indicating Potter. "He'll appreciate it."

Tracey nodded, and Granger's smile grew a bit wider. 

It felt oddly good. 


	3. I Might Be Wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter playlist
> 
> I Felt Your Shape - The Microphones
> 
> Specifically near the end of the chapter (:

_"It'll take a while, to make you smile."_

* * *

_**October 22nd, 1996**_

"Tracey Davis, what on earth do you think you're doing!?"

Daphne Greengrass was normally a quiet and reserved person, one who didn't raise her hand in class, or even ask for help from a teacher. She found it hard to make friends sometimes because of this, most of her peers found her cold and uncaring, hence the unwanted title of "Ice Queen." So when she had met Tracey six years ago, it had been a huge change in her life, Daphne's first real friend. Today was a special occasion however, and _not_ in a good way.

One moment, Tracey was going to the washroom in the Three Broomsticks, the next, she had a package in her hand and repeatedly stated that she needed to get back to Hogwarts. What infuriated Daphne, was that her friend would give no explanation as to how she obtained the package or why she needed to bring it back to the castle so urgently. 

Finally catching up to her unusually fast friend, Daphne grabbed hold of Tracey's arm, turning the witch towards her. 

"It's nothing to do with you!" Tracey all but screamed at her.

Just _what_ was going on here? In their years of being friends, Daphne had never seen Tracey act like this. Her grip on the package mustn't have been very good, for Tracey dropped it almost immediately, the rags it was covered in coming undone and showing an ornate looking necklace.

Before Daphne could even ask why Tracey needed to deliver this necklace so badly, the other girl reached down with frightening speed to try and collect it, but when her gloved hand touched it, Tracey flew up in the air, suspended by some invisible force, screaming wildly. 

"Tracey!" Daphne yelled. 

She tried everything to drag her friend back down, but to no avail. 

"What's going on?" 

Daphne turned to see Harry Potter approach, looking at Tracey with worry evident in his expression. "What happened to her?"

"I-It was the necklace! S-She touched it and -oh god- she flew up and started screaming!" Daphne sobbed, panic rising by the second. 

His two friends showed up soon after he did, just managing to hear her explanation. Weasley reached down to try and grab the necklace as well, before Potter grabbed him by the arm. 

"Don't."

Potential crisis averted, Potter sprinted off without a word, returning moments later with a giant of a man. 

"Wha's all this 'ere?" Professor Hagrid's voice boomed, concern in his eyes.

"Davis touched a necklace, we think it's cursed." Potter explained. 

"I'll take her." The giant professor said, scooping Tracey up out of the air carefully. "Levitate that ruddy thing along will yeh, 'Arry?"

Potter nodded and whipped out his wand, a second later the cursed necklace floated behind Hagrid as they ran to the school, Tracey still screaming the entire way.

A hand was placed on her shoulder, and Granger gave her a soft smile, "She'll be alright, Daphne, let's follow them back." 

Daphne sniffed and nodded her head, grateful for the kind words.

* * *

_**October 25th, 1996**_

Her head hurt. 

This was the first coherent thought that popped into her head. Tracey opened her eyes blearily, the room slowly becoming clearer, and sunlight shone through curtains on her left.

Tracey realized that she was in the hospital wing, and immediately tried to get up. She must have been grunting a lot in her attempt, as Madam Pomfrey quickly made her way over, evident by the sound of hurrying footsteps. 

"No, no miss Davis please lay down, you've been in a bit of a coma for three days." She said 

_Three days?_

Tracey blanched and thank Merlin Pomfrey noticed, because in a flash a bucket was conjured and Tracey was hurling into it. 

"There, there dear," The matron said soothingly. "I'll be right back with Dumbledore."

Dumbledore strode in, looking as graceful as ever, "I am glad to see you've recovered miss Davis, you gave us quite the scare." He said. "I was wondering what you could tell me about the day of the incident?"

Tracey sat up a little in the hospital bed, "Not much, unfortunately." She admitted, eyes not meeting the headmaster's own, "I went to the washroom in the Three Broomsticks, me and Daphne had been there for maybe twenty minutes. After that, nothing." 

Dumbledore nodded as if he already expected nothing less, "It's as I believe, you were placed under the imperius curse by someone else in the establishment. Which, seems to be lucky for them, deliberately or not, as it was quite crowded that day if miss Greengrass is to be believed."

"So there's no way to know who did this to me?" She asked.

The old wizard sighed, "I'm afraid not. However, not all is bad. Any impending homework you may have had are excused, no small feat considering your teachers." He said, standing up to leave. "I'll leave you now, miss Davis, as there are some people who undoubtedly would like to see you."

With that, the headmaster took his leave, robe billowing majestically as he went. Tracey had almost no time to collect her thoughts, as a familiar voiced cried out.

"Tracey!"

Daphne practically sprinted over to her bed, much to the shock of Madam Pomfrey, and gave her a tight hug. 

"I'm so glad you're okay." She mumbled. 

"Me too." Tracey croaked. 

"Deal me in on that."

Matilda Davis was an imposing woman, standing at nearly seven feet tall, it was easy to see why. She had strawberry blonde curls that contrasted with Tracey's dark brown hair, piercing grey eyes and a face that was almost always contorted into a scowl. Tracey knew this all to be an act however, as upon seeing her niece, her expression softened right away, the stern facade dropping. 

"Hey aunt Matilda." She said weakly, before being enveloped into another fierce hug.

"We weren't sure when you'd wake." Her aunt said with a hitch in her voice.

"You guys were here the whole three days?" 

"I was," Matilda confirmed. "Daphne came when she could between classes." 

"Not for a lack of trying." Pomfrey chimed in, bustling by to handle some unknown errand. 

"Crafty bird here tried to skip out on meals, I wouldn't allow it." Her aunt explained, gazing coolly at Daphne. 

The girl in question looked unabashed at Matilda's words, and defended herself promptly. 

"I would have eaten eventually."

Matilda rolled her eyes, "Well that just _fills_ me with confidence." She said sarcastically, before turning contemplative. "Although, there was another person here to see you."

Tracey raised an eyebrow at her aunt, "There was?"

"Indeed, how do you know Harry Potter?"

_What?_

"What?"

"It's a simple question, dear." 

" _He_ was here to see me?" Tracey said disbelievingly. 

Matilda nodded, a small smirk on her face at Tracey's reaction.

"Oh yes, poor lad was quite broken up about it."

Tracey completely zoned out at these words, lost in thought as Daphne launched into a discussion on what she had missed in their classes.

_Why would he visit her?_

* * *

_**October 31st, 1996**_

It had been over a week since the incident in Hogsmeade, and six days since Tracey woke up in the hospital wing. People stole glances at her when they thought she wasn't looking, whispering their pity to each other as if she didn't have ears.

Today was a special day, All Hallows Eve was always a favourite holiday for her, pretty much only for the sweets. The Hogwarts feast was always great too, Tracey was particularly fond of the pumpkin pie.

Her mind was not clear today, filled with thoughts about Potter, and his visit during her coma. She'd never found the right time to thank him for helping her much less asking him why he visited in the first place. Despite being partners in Herbology, she struggled to find the right words. Fortunately for her then, that as she was walking towards the entrance of the Great Hall, Potter burst out, with Granger following close behind.

"I'm fine 'Mione, honest, I just can't do it this year." He said, trying to placate his friend.

"But, Harry-"

He turned to put his hands on her shoulders, "I'll be alright, I love that you want to come with me, I do, but I'd like to be left alone for tonight. _Please._ " 

Sensing it was a lost cause to argue with him, Granger nodded sadly. 

"Alright.. but you have to accompany me to one of Slughorn's parties, I won't have McLaggin breathing down my neck again." 

He smiled at her, "You mean like on a date? Why Hermione, I had no idea you- Ow!"

She had slapped his arm, but her barely held back smile was a dead give-away. 

"Prat. I hope you feel better." 

"Thank you," Potter said sincerely. "Now go back in there and make sure Ron doesn't choke on all that food he's shovelling into his mouth."

Granger laughed a little, before leaving. 

Potter's smile dropped quickly, and he never noticed Tracey watching nearby as he stalked off to the left of the entrance. 

Arguing with herself internally, Tracey swore under her breath before following behind him.

Or at least she tried to, for when she turned the corner, Potter was nowhere to be seen. 

Confused, Tracey looked around, the corridor was empty. 

"Is ickle Davis lost?" 

Tracey sighed.

"Peeves." She growled. 

The poltergeist floated behind her, a mischievous smile on his face. 

"Why are you not at the feast?"

"Lost my appetite, where did Potter go?" 

Peeves blew a raspberry at her, and ignored her question. 

"Why? Come to fangirl over him?" The spectral jester taunted childishly.

Quick as lightening, Tracey whipped out her wand and aimed it at Peeves, " _Waddiwas-_ " She began, remembering the spell that Professor Lupin used in her third year to dispatch of the bothersome ghost.

"WAIT! Okay, okay. Saw Potty pull his cloak over his head and disappear, but he was heading that way." Peeves said, jabbing his pale thumb to a stairway that led to the owlery. 

" _Thank_ you." 

The poltergeist grumbled to himself before heading the way she came from, no doubt to cause mayhem during the feast.

Going up the spiral stairs to the owlery, Tracey mentally prepared herself for what she was going to say. Only, none of it mattered, for once she arrived at the top, it was empty. Weirdly enough, there was a beautiful snowy white owl down from where the creatures usually stayed, as if it was ready to leave. The owl peered at Tracey, its head tilting as if it were sizing it up. 

She made to soothe the bird when....

"Are you following me, Davis?"

"AAAGH!"

"Ow! Bloody hell!"

Harry Potter stood behind her, stumbling back and clutching his nose, he had whispered in her ear, so her knee-jerk reaction was to spin around and elbow him in the face.

"What the _fuck_ , Potter!" Tracey yelled. "You scared me."

"Clearly," He mumbled, hand still on his nose. "You hit hard."

She smirked at him, "I know." 

"What're you doing up here?" He asked her, hand dropping down to grab at his cloak. 

"Looking for you," Tracey answered honestly. "I wanted to thank you for what you did, getting Professor Hagrid and all that." 

His face morphed into a dour expression, "I didn't do anything, I'm sure Hagrid would have found you anyway, with you screaming bloody murder." 

"Just take the compliment," She snapped, surprising him. "None of that humble shite. How'd you hide anyway? Peeves had told me you came up here." 

Potter looked mildly shocked that Peeves would help a student at all, but still answered by lifting up the cloak he held.

Her eyes widened at it, "You own an invisibility cloak?"

"Yeah," He confirmed with a nod. "It was my dad's, I've had it since my first year." 

"So, what were _you_ doing up here?" 

"Sending a letter," He said, gesturing to the snowy white owl from before. "Meet Hedwig."

The owl seemed to roll its eyes at Potter, which Tracey found funny, and held out its leg to him.

"Yeah, yeah, take the letter you ruddy owl." 

Accepting the letter, Hedwig hooted indignantly and took off.

"Pretty bird." She commented.

"Spoiled too." Potter mumbled.

"I take it that's not all you came up here to do," Tracey began, and at Potter's questioning look, she elaborated. "I overheard you and Granger."

He sighed, "Do you know what day it is?" 

Confused, she answered. 

"Uh, Halloween?"

"Fifteen years ago on this day, Voldemort killed my parents, and gave me _this._ " He said, brushing back his fringe to reveal his signature lightening bolt scar. 

Tracey was an idiot.

"P-Potter, I-I, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking, I'm a bloody-" 

"It's okay, Tracey." He murmured, surprising the girl with the use of her first name. "It’s just harder this time around without my godfather. He died last year. To see them _celebrating,_ my parents sacrificed themselves, and they're throwing a bloody _party_." 

_Merlin how much has he been through?_

Gone was the smiling, sometimes quippy "Golden Boy Gryffindor", only a broken Harry Potter remained.

It was clear why Potter visited her in the hospital wing now, the _guilt._ He clearly carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"Pott- _Harry,_ " She amended, placing a tentative hand on his shoulder. "D'you want to.... y'know..?" 

_Please, please, please, get what I'm trying to say_

Thankfully it seemed that he did, when green eyes met blue, Harry nodded.

They talked all night about nothing in particular, to get his mind off this terrible day in his life, feast forgotten.


	4. Under My Skin

_ "Catch ya on the flip-flop." _

* * *

_**November 12th, 1996** _

"It looks a bit like he's eating her face, doesn't it? Though I suppose he has to get practice somewhere." 

Harry snorted, that was certainly one way of putting it, Ginny laughed along with him.

"You should probably go find where Hermione ran off to," She said, not looking him in the eyes. "Good game, Harry."

He nodded, a grim smile on his face. "Yeah."

Harry set off, leaving the common room with only a single glance back at the show Lavender and Ron were putting on. It wasn't hard to find her, he heard the sobbing soon enough. Hermione was in an unused classroom by herself, face in her hands, sobbing. 

"Hey." He said softly, walking towards her and sitting down. 

Hermione looked up in surprise, eyes puffy and red. 

"Hi." She responded.

"Ron's a git," Harry said immediately, pulling Hermione close to him. "Too blind to realize how amazing you are."

She smiled sadly at him, "No, no, it's okay Harry, really. I thought I was over it, over _him._ Seeing _that_ just brought back unpleasant feelings."

"Wait, you don't fancy him?" 

"No," Hermione said. "I thought I did, ever since fourth year, but I realize now that he'll likely never feel the same, and we probably weren't a good match anyway."

Harry sat there, dumbfounded at this new information. "Well then," He began. "If that's the case, there'll be nobody to stop me from asking you then.." 

"Ask me what, Harry?" Hermione asked confusedly.

"If you'll so graciously accompany me to Slughorn's Christmas party of course, m'lady."

She smiled at his antics, "Are you sure there isn't someone else you'd rather go with? Like Ginny?"

An image of dark brown hair and blue eyes flashed briefly in his mind, but he shook his head. 

"Merlin no, none of them hold a candle to you, 'Mione."

She looked away in embarrassment, "Well alright then." 

He jumped up, "Excellent!"

* * *

_**November 15th, 1996** _

"Eugh, yuck!"

Harry snickered, Tracey's hatred of the plants never ceasing to make him laugh.

"Shut it," She snapped. "If you had to feed the ruddy thing, you'd be grossed out too."

"Probably," He admitted with a grin. "Good thing I grabbed the branches first."

"Har har." 

They'd been hanging out a lot more since Halloween, he'd even studied with her and Daphne in the library on two occasions. It was nice, to make new friends. When Sprout came around, she gave their work a once over, "Outstanding." 

Tracey grinned at him, he smiled back.

"You finish Snape's essay yet?" She asked as they waited outside the greenhouse for their friends.

"Barely got it started." He answered, rubbing the back of his neck. 

"Wicked, me neither, you want to join me and Daph in the library to study for it? In like a day or two maybe."

"Sure, I don't see why not," He replied with a shrug, before a sudden thought struck him. "Hey, is it alright if Hermione tags along? Her and Ron have been on the outs lately, and I think a distraction would do her well." 

Tracey considered it for a moment, "Yeah, that should be fine, it'll be interesting to see Daphne's face."

He looked at her with a confused expression, "Why?"

"They have a sort've... academic rivalry. Daphne's gotten better marks than her on a few occasions, she takes it quite seriously." 

Harry laughed at that, and a moment later their respective friends exited. 

"Right, well," Tracey said while standing up, "I'll see you then."

He nodded, and walked off with Hermione as Tracey joined Pansy and Daphne. 

"What was that all about?" 

"Oh I'm meeting her in the library sometime soon to study." 

Hermione's eyebrows shot up, "Study? Alone?" 

He gave her a sour look, "Yes, study, Hermione, I've been known to do it."

"Since when?" 

The glare he sent her way made Hermione laugh. 

"For your information," He said slowly. "I won't be alone, Daphne Greengrass will be there too." 

Hermione stopped laughing at that. 

"Greengrass?"

"Right in one."

"You have to let me come, she's like my arch nemesis! It'll be such a good chance to discuss all of our classes!" 

His facade almost broke at 'arch nemesis', but he still managed to rub his chin in fake thought. 

"Oh I dunno, I never asked and y'see...." Harry broke off, took one look at Hermione's face, and laughed. "Okay I lied, I already asked, she said yes."

Hermione's eyes lit up, "Yes! I could practically kiss you right now!" 

"I wouldn't be oppose- Ow! Bloody hell, you offered!"

* * *

Back in the Slytherin dorms, Tracey was accosted, for lack of a better word, by Pansy. 

"It's _Harry_ , now, is it?" 

She resisted the urge to slap Pansy. 

"Yes, he's a friend, I'm allowed to have those aren't I?" Tracey responded hotly.

"He's Harry _bloody_ Potter! We're supposed to hate him!" Pansy cried, throwing her hands into the air.

"No, _you're_ supposed to hate him, but only because you insist on shagging that blonde ponce, who clearly doesn't give a rats arse about you!" 

**SMACK!**

Tracey reeled back, nearly toppling over her trunk, before getting ready to jump right onto the other girl. 

The whole house was tired of seeing Pansy trail after Draco like a lost puppy. At the start of their relationship in fifth year, it was clear as day to anyone with eyes that darling Draco only kept her around to stroke his ego, no pun intended. This became abundantly clear when at the start of this year he had been ignoring her more and more. Tracey's words were cruel, and she regretted them as soon as she said it, but it was the _truth_. 

With significant effort, she calmed herself down. 

"I'm sorry," Tracey said, surprising everyone else in the room. "You know I'm right, Pansy. And as for Harry, I don't much care what anyone else thinks, he's just another student, same as any Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, him and Draco's mutual self hatred should not and will not stop me from talking to him."

With that, she stormed out of the room, leaving a stunned Pansy behind. 

"Trace." 

"What, Daphne?" She snapped. 

Her friend raised her hands in a show of surrender, "Hey, you know I agree with you, I would've objected to studying with him if I didn't."

Right, Tracey _knew_ that.

"Sorry, Daph, didn't mean to snap at you." 

Bless her best friend, because she nodded. 

"I know, it's okay, I was just going to ask if you wanted to enact those library plans _now._ " 

"Er, how'll we let Harry know though?" She wondered, ignoring Daphne's small smile at her use of his first name. "Unless you know the password?"

Daphne shook her head, "I hadn't thought of that." She admitted.

Tracey smirked, "At least I know you're as human as the rest of us." 

"Oh shut it." Daphne smiled back.

"Ah sod it, let's just go, if anything, they'll be there anyway, he told me Granger and Weasley are on bad terms." She said, subtly sliding in the fact that his friend was attending. 

It worked like a charm, Daphne's eyes went as wide as saucers. 

" _She's_ going to be there? What are we waiting for?"

Tracey's laughter carried them all the way to the stairs.

* * *

The introductions were awkward at first, but soon enough they were all seated around a circular table, and both Hermione and Daphne were chatting animatedly about school, ignoring their two friends. 

"They grow up so fast." Tracey lamented.

Harry laughed, and then apologized immediately when the librarian, Madam Pince, glared at him. 

Much to Daphne's delight (and Tracey's grudging one too), Harry and Hermione were in the library as she predicted.

"Why do I get the feeling they're not talking about Defence class?" He asked.

"I dunno, can barely tell they're speaking English in the first place." She answered, and he grinned.

"Why did Snape have to assign an essay like this anyway? Who wants to write three rolls of parchment on Inferi?"

"I think the only people that do are right in front of us. Plus, Snape's a berk."

He snickered, and was going to reply before the smile he wore went away, replaced by a look of mild horror.

"Oh, Merlin." 

She followed his line of sight to see some younger Gryffindor girl walking towards them, a confident smile on her face.

"Hello, Harry," The girl said sweetly, completely ignoring the other three witches at the table. "How are you?"

"I'm alright, Romilda, you?" 

"Oh I'm fantastic _now._ " She said, jutting out her chest slightly. 

Tracey was disgusted, and one look at Hermione told her that she felt the same.

"I've got a gift for you, Harry." 

"You do?"

Not answering right away, _Romilda_ took out a box of chocolates and handed it over to him. 

"Oh! Thanks Romilda, these look good." He said.

"My pleasure, Harry," She responded, before turning to leave, hips swaying as she went. "See you around." Romilda called over her shoulder.

It was quiet for a while, Tracey eyed the younger girl as she went. 

Harry for his part looked embarrassed, cheeks pink.

"Bit forward isn't she?" He asked with a small, nervous laugh. 

"More like _obvious_ ," Hermione said, scowling. Tracey agreed. "I wouldn't eat those, Harry, Ginny told me she overheard Romilda and her fan club plotting to slip you a love potion." 

"Really?" Came his reply, now eyeing Romilda as well. 

Hermione snapped her fingers in front of his face, "Focus! She only wants you because she thinks you're the chosen one."

Harry turned back to look at Hermione with a grin, "But I _am_ the chosen one."

Two rolls of parchment smacked him on the head.

"Ow! Okay, sorry." He said, looking at Hermione and Tracey warily, while Daphne looked on disapprovingly.

Tracey shook herself, briefly wondered why a crazed fangirl bothered her so much. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the chocolate Romilda gives Harry in the books is in December, but I decided to move it up. Bit of a shorter chapter this one, but I felt it was a good place to leave off.


	5. Merry Christmas

_"Don't you know little fool? You never can win." - Frank Sinatra_

* * *

_**December 3rd, 1996** _

"Trace, you're staring." 

"Am not."

"I'm not starting this with you." 

Tracey huffed and crossed her arms.

Daphne merely kept reading her potions textbook, "Don't act like a child."

She only huffed again.

"You're proving my point."

Tracey threw her hands up in exasperation, "Just look at her! Could she be any more obvious?"

Daphne shook her head at Tracey, which only proved to worsen her mood. Romilda Vane was making another very _brave_ attempt at flirting with Harry Potter across the Great Hall. She situated herself between Harry and Hermione, much to the latter's annoyance, and seemed to be chatting up a storm. 

"I agree that it's a little gross, but why do you care that much? I'm sure Harry isn't very receptive to it." Daphne said, trying to placate her friend. 

Harry's pink cheeks said otherwise in Tracey's opinion, but she turned back to her lunch anyway, ignoring the looks of her housemates.

"Skinny bint." She muttered. 

Daphne guffawed at this, making a few others look their way.

"Anyway," The blonde hair girl began. "Slughorn's Christmas party is coming up, and since I'm in it, we're expected to go with a date. You wanna come? I'm pretty sure Harry and Hermione mentioned going." 

Tracey _did_ vaguely remember them saying that. She grunted something that sounded like a sound of affirmation.

Daphne laughed again, which was really starting to unsettle Tracey. 

"What are we expected to wear?" She asked.

"Oh anything really, if the dress you wore to the Yule Ball still fits then I'm sure that's more than fine." Daphne said. "That's the wrong question though, Trace, what you should really be asking is why you care so much about who flirts with Harry."

She didn't like the sound of that.

* * *

_**December 20th, 1996** _

"Oh quit fussing with your hair, you look quite dashing."

Tracey laughed at the two across the room, just barely being able to make out their conversation. She and Daphne had just barely managed to survive a long and indulging conversation from Slughorn, a vampire, some famous Quidditch player who kept trying to hit on her, and a politician Tracey couldn't be bothered to remember the name of. Daphne was currently talking to some sort of pioneer of Transfiguration, while Tracey was trying to figure out a way to sneak some Firewhiskey into her glass without being caught when she saw Harry and Hermione.

Tracey had to agree with the girl, Harry actually cleaned up well, although his hair was the mess it always was, sticking out in multiple directions. 

"What d'you think Dumbledore's up to?"

"I don't know, Harry, I'm sure you can ask him in your next meeting when he returns."

Right, Tracey had forgotten he had meetings with the headmaster.

"Snape knows, the git, but he just walked out without saying anything."

"Merlin knows why you expected anything different."

His retort went unheard to Tracey when she felt Daphne tap her shoulder, a cheeky grin on her face when she noticed where Tracey was looking.

"Blaise has asked me for a dance, if that's okay." 

She waved Daphne off, "Yeah, yeah, go on, I don't feel like dancing more anyway."

Slughorn had pulled out all the stops it seemed, the Weird Sister's had been performing up to now, causing many to grab their dates and dance. Tracey thankfully had a good partner, because she was pants at dancing. Plus, her feet hurt.

"Ladies and gentlemen! It is with great honour that I present to you, Celestina Warbeck!"

A dark skinned witch walked onto the mini stage Slughorn had erected. Tracey shuddered to think of how much this cost, getting the most popular wizarding musicians in Britain couldn't have been cheap. A slow piano number started up.

" _The first time, ever I saw your face._ " 

Tracey had to admit that she was _good._

"May I have this dance?" 

Harry stood there, a smile on his face. 

"It seems both our dates have ditched us." He said. It was true, a heavily blushing Neville Longbottom was currently swaying gently with Hermione. 

" _I thought the sun rose in your eyes._ "

All thoughts of not dancing anymore were thrown out of her head, staring up at his emerald green eyes, Tracey found it suddenly very hard to say no. Maybe, just _maybe_ , his fangirls were onto something there.

"Sure, I'm not very good at it though." She said.

"Neither am I," Harry admitted, taking her hand. "Maybe it'll balance out." 

"That makes no sense." She laughed, putting her arms around his neck. 

" _And the moon and the stars, were the gifts you gave._ " 

He laughed too, a deep and delightful sound that came easily. 

They were swaying in place to the song, which thankfully meant less of a chance they'd step on each other's toes.

" _To the dark, and the endless skies._ "

It continually surprised her how close they'd gotten, she never had many close friends to begin with, and Tracey now knew it was the same for him, but for something like this to happen was crazy to her. She only talked to him, Daphne, and Hermione now, being shunned by her house for even associating with them. Right now though, seeing his lopsided grin as they danced, his hand on her waist...

" _And t_ _he first time, ever I kissed your mouth._ "

They could all bugger off. 

Their foreheads touched in a very intimate manner, and her eyes involuntarily flicked to his lips. Harry seemed to be in a trance as well, for his eyes did the same. 

" _I felt the earth move in my hands._ " 

There was the slightest inclination of his head downwards, and it seemed that he was going to kiss her, Tracey would have been powerless to stop him.

They were frighteningly close now, all she had to do was tilt her head up to meet him...

 **BANG!**

The doors to the party flew open, and Argus Filch, the Hogwarts caretaker came thundering in, dragging a mortified Draco Malfoy by the arm. 

"Dear Merlin, Argus, what's all this?" Slughorn slurred.

"Caught this one trying to sneak in, sir." The cantankerous man replied, seemingly quite proud of this fact. 

Draco didn't defend himself, he merely tried to break the caretaker's death grip.

"Well that's alright, Argus, nothing to kill the boy over." The potions professor joked. 

"On the contrary..." A voice drawled. Snape had returned out of nowhere. "I think I'll take this from here, Argus."

Slughorn looked like he wanted to help the boy, but Filch grudgingly let Malfoy go, and the two swept out of the room, Filch leaving soon after. 

"Well that was weird." She tried to joke "Harry?"

But he was already on his way out the door, chasing after Draco bloody Malfoy. Leaving her here, alone. 

Tracey did the first thing she could think of, downed a Firewhiskey in one go, and went to find the nearest boy she could snog. 

The rest of the night was a blur.

* * *

_**December 21st, 1996** _

"I'm never drinking again." 

Daphne huffed, placing a plate of food down on the foot of Tracey's bed. 

"Serve's you right, I had half a mind to not bring you this."

Tracey grabbed the food greedily, "I barely remember last night. But what I _do_ remember wasn't pleasant."

Still glaring at her, Daphne filled her in. 

"Well you were dancing with Harry, which pleased me greatly, but when Draco bursted in I got distracted, next thing is see is you getting pissed and walking off to snog McLaggin senseless." 

She nearly threw up, "I did _what?!_ " 

"Yep, gave me a start, and the git bragged about it in the Great Hall today. Harry looked quite angry."

"Good, he ditched me to chase after Malfoy."

"I know, Trace, Hermione caught me up on it all. Harry's been a bit obsessed with him lately."

"Clearly." She snorted derisively.

"I'm not defending him, but you should definitely have a talk." 

Tracey shook her head, "If we have a _talk_ , it'll end with him in the hospital wing."

Daphne sighed, "Alright, fair enough, eat and then pack, we've got a train to catch."

That's exactly what she did, muttering darkly to herself all the while. Was Tracey not good looking enough? Too bitchy? He didn't seem to mind these attributes before, or maybe it was because she talked too much. Her aunt had once called her a motor mouth. Groaning internally, Tracey berated herself, she had no idea why she even cared! Potter was at perfect liberty to chase after anybody he wanted, just like she was at perfect liberty to kick him in the balls for leaving her!

* * *

The train ride back to England was uneventful, she saw Potter steal a few glances her way, and Tracey prayed he didn't try anything. Like a hawk, Matilda picked up on her sour mood almost immediately, but never said a word until Daphne was gone and they were home in the living room.

"So, what's got your knickers in a twist?"

Always blunt and to the point, Tracey mused, but otherwise didn't answer, deciding to look inside the fridge for a light snack.

"Ah, so that's how we'll play this, eh? Alright then, must be boy trouble."

The way she froze must have given it away, because Matilda cackled. 

"How'd you know?" Tracey asked, her tone accusatory.

"Dear, I sometimes think you forget that I was once your age too."

She _might've_ had a point. 

"Who's the boy? Don't tell me you're still fawning over Zabini again?"

"NO! Merlin no, I realized it wasn't going to happen years ago."

"Then who?"

Tracey bit her lip, seriously debating lying to her aunt. As it turned out, she didn't need to.

"Potter?"

Her shoulders sagged and she nodded sadly.

"Oh, sweetheart, what're you doing going after a Gryffindor? Especially the bloody _chosen one._ "

"He hates that name," Tracey muttered, defending him mostly on instinct. "You sound just like Pansy."

Matilda recoiled a little, "Never liked her."

Tracey laughed, "We were at this Christmas party, a slow song came on, we danced." 

"And....?" 

She sighed, "And, nothing. He left to chase after Draco Malfoy - _not_ in that way take your mind out of the gutter - I thought that maybe.... but no. We had a moment, and it was ruined."

Matilda hugged her gently, before leaning back to look her in the eyes. 

"I think you have to really take a long look at your feelings towards Harry Potter." 

Tracey eyes went wide, "No, no way." 

"Darling, be honest with yourself! If it had been almost anybody else, you wouldn't have cared, it was only because you like him that it bothers you so much!"

Damn, she didn't really have a response to that, and her aunt sensed it. 

"I know it might be hard to accept it, but somehow, someway, you fell head over heels for Harry Potter."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song quoted for the dance is "The first time ever I saw your face" by Roberta Flack


	6. Facing Feelings

_"There's nothing to be scared of."_

* * *

**_January 6th, 1997_ **

"So what do you think, Harry?"

"It looks tampered with, sir." 

Dumbledore smiled, clearly happy with how fast Harry grasped this fact.

"My thoughts exactly, I didn't ask Professor Slughorn back just to fill a position."

They had just finished viewing two memories, the first, was of a young Tom Riddle learning of Slytherin's locket and attacking his uncle, Morfin. The other was of Tom again, but this time trying to coax Slughorn into giving him information about something called a horcrux. 

"All those years ago, I believe that Horace told Tom what he needed to know, thus setting him off on this path. It's not all poor Horace's fault, Tom was quite charming, and almost all the staff dotted on him." Dumbledore said, eyes losing their familiar twinkle at the serious topic. "A horcrux is dark magic, so much so that I've removed all mention of them in the library here, even from the restricted section. It involves splitting one's soul through cold blooded murder. It is my belief that Tom has made seven horcrux's."

Harry's eyes bulged, "Seven?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "Yes I thought you'd react like that, fear not Harry, we've already destroyed two of them."

At Harry's curious expression, Dumbledore retrieved a familiar diary and ring.

"His diary from my second year was a horcrux?" 

"Indeed, m'boy, very few things can destroy a horcrux, you'll find that any spell you know will have no effect on them. Basilisk venom however, is one of those few things. Yes, when you stabbed Tom Riddle's diary in second year to save Ginny Weasley, you unknowingly destroyed a horcrux. It would not be until nearly four years later for another one to follow suit."

"That's what happened to your hand, sir?"

"Yes, I foolishly wore this ring," He said, indicating the gaudy accessory. "I was able to destroy it eventually however, with _this._ " 

The headmaster stepped away to grab the sorting hat, who was fast asleep despite the intrusion. He reached into the hat, and pulled out the Sword of Gryffindor.

"Merlin's dirty underpants." Harry gasped. 

Dumbledore chuckled, "You've been spending too much time with miss Tonks, m'boy."

Harry shook his head, a twinge of guilt hitting him, "Not Tonks, no. Tracey Davis."

The older man's eyebrow's raised, "Indeed? I'm impressed, Harry, good on you for your house unity. It's been many years since a Gryffindor and Slytherin were able to get along like that." He said wistfully.

"Getting back on track, when you stabbed the basilisk with this sword, it absorbed the venom into it's blade. Harry, I wonder if you can tell me what you know about goblin made magical items?"

"Besides the fact that they're bloody expensive?"

Dumbledore chuckled once more, "Yes, Harry, besides that."

He thought for a moment, before it came to him. 

"It only takes in what makes it stronger."

The trademark twinkle returned, "Very good, Harry. Yes, with this basilisk venom imbued sword, I was able to destroy Marvolo's ring. It will no doubt be a valuable asset in destroying the rest. Now, the last thing I wish to discuss with you brings us back to Professor Slughorn. We need to know what exactly Horace told Tom that night."

"How can I help?"

Dumbledore smiled, "So brave, it's a quality I've always admired in you, Harry." 

He had to fight the blush that was surely creeping up at the headmaster's kind words.

"I need you to convince Horace to hand over the true memory, I cannot do it myself, as he is suspicious of my actions every time I start up a conversation with him. Can you do this?"

"I'll do my best, sir."

Dumbledore's smile grew wider, "Your best is enough. You may go, Harry."

He nodded, and was about to get up when he remembered the visit Scrimgeour paid him at the Burrow.

"Sir, the Minister came to speak to me during the holiday's."

Dumbledore showed no sign of being surprised by this information, "Ah, yes, Molly had told me about this." He leaned back in his seat as Harry began to recall his meeting with the Minister of Magic.

_"So basically," He said, as though he just wanted to clarify a few points. "You'd like to give the impression that I'm working for the Ministry?"_

_"It would give everyone a lift to think you were more involved, Harry." Scrimgeour said, sounding relieved that Harry had cottoned on so quickly. "The 'Chosen One', you know ... it's all about giving people hope, the feeling that exciting things are happening ..."_

_"But if I keep running in and out of the Ministry," Harry said, still endeavouring to keep his voice friendly, "Won't that seem as though I approve of what the Ministry's up to?"_

_"Well," Scrimgeour said, frowning slightly, "Well, yes, that's partly why we'd like -"_

_"No, I don't think that'll work," Harry said pleasantly. "You see, I don't like some of the things the Ministry's doing. Locking up Stan Shunpike, for instance."_

"The _Prophet_ had said you disagreed, was it about Stan?"

"The _Prophet_ is bound to report the truth occasionally," Dumbledore said, "If only accidentally. Yes, that was why we argued. Well, it appears that Rufus found a way to corner you at last."

''He accused me of being 'Dumbledore's man through and through.'"

"How very rude of him."

"I told him I was."

Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. Behind Harry, Fawkes the phoenix let out a low, soft, musical cry. To Harry's intense embarrassment, he suddenly realised that Dumbledore's bright blue eyes looked rather watery, and stared hastily at his own knees. When Dumbledore spoke, however, his voice was quite steady.

"I am very touched, Harry."

* * *

_**January 11th, 1997** _

"If there are no questions, you are dismissed." 

Harry couldn't have gotten out of Snape's class faster if he tried, this time however, it was not due to their mutual hatred for each other, no. Harry had a specific goal in mind, to catch up with a fast walking Tracey Davis. 

"Tracey!" He called, drawing a few glances from people nearby. "Trace, wait up! I'm sorry about Slughorn's party, it's just Malfoy-"

"I don't want to hear your excuses, Potter, who does that to a girl?" Tracey snapped, not turning around to look at him. Daphne looked warily between the two but otherwise said nothing. "Whatever you're chasing after that ponce for, you really need to think long and hard about it."

That left him a sputtering mess, and she stalked off with Daphne, who gave him an apologetic look before being dragged away.

"Come on, Harry, let's go." Hermione said. 

Ron came up beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Yeah, mate, forget about those snakes."

"Those _snakes_ , are our friends, Ron." Harry all but growled. 

The red head raised his hands up in surrender, "Hey, sorry, they didn't seem very friendly just now, though."

"Harry, you're going to have to keep trying to apologize."

"I know, Hermione."

"And you should really take a look deep within, about your feelings towards her."

"I _know,_ Hermione. Wait, what?"

She gave him a pointed look as they walked, "I saw you two at Slughorn's party, how intimate you were with her."

Harry blushed to his roots, "I.... yeah I guess I do have to really think about it."

"What happened at the party?" Ron asked.

"Harry here nearly kissed Tracey."

"He _what?!_ "

Harry sighed, "Thanks 'Mione."

He then spent the next entire period walking Ron through what happened, his friend being in a perpetual state of disbelief the entire time. 

"I don't understand you, mate," Ron whispered, careful to avoid Professor McGonagall's wrath. "You leave a bird all on her own, especially one as fit as Davis, house allegiances aside."

Harry was thankful that Hermione was seated next to Neville and not them, for she would have some choices words for how Ron discussed his opinion. As... inappropriate as Ron's words were, he had a point. Tracey was funny, quick witted, and _very_ pretty. Beyond all that, she was there for him on Halloween, despite his best attempts to be alone, she barged in and wouldn't have taken 'no' for an answer. He supposed that in the end, he _did_ have feelings for her, and by the way Tracey reacted when he ditched her, Harry wagered she felt the same. 

At least, he hoped she felt the same.

* * *

_**January 20th, 1997** _

"I just got a feeling that waiting outside of her common room is a good idea, y'know?"

"No."

Tonight, Harry had the brilliant idea of taking a sip of Felix Felicis. After all, what better to help his current situation than a little bit of luck? Granted, Ron and Hermione didn't see it that way, but he trusted himself, er, Felix, here.

"Just be careful, Harry, she's liable to hex you." 

"Nice vote of confidence, 'Mione."

"She's just being realistic, mate." Ron chuckled. "Good luck."

With a nod, he left the Gryffindor common room, double checking the marauder's map to make sure Tracey was not actually in there, and out on her prefect rounds. When he arrived at the dungeons, Harry merely sat down near where he knew the entrance was, and waited.

He watched the map dutifully, and saw her dot draw closer, this was it.

When Tracey rounded the corner, she froze, clearly not expecting him to be there. 

"What're you doing here, Potter?"

Her use of his last name made him flinch slightly, but he spoke steadily nonetheless.

"Waiting for you, of course." 

"And how did you know that I'd be coming this way?"

Harry looked around exaggeratedly, "Is this not the entrance to the Slytherin common room?"

Tracey's eyes went comically wide, "How did you know that?" She snapped.

"Me and Ron snuck in here during our second year, polyjuiced as Crabbe and Goyle, bit too green for my taste."

"Uh huh." She said, clearly not believing him. 

_My life's to stupid to live_ He thought to himself. 

"Here, look at this."

Harry showed her the marauder's map, which had it's desired effect.

"How in the bloody hell does this exist?"

He smiled cheekily, "My dad and his friends made this when they were at school, and in third year the Weasley twins gave it to me."

"Of course those two would have their hands on this," She snorted, before looking at him suspiciously. "Why are you showing me this?"

_Here comes the hard part_

"To say sorry, and not make excuses about my shitty actions back at the party. I should never have left the party to chase after Malfoy, especially not when I had you there waiting for another dance." 

Tracey went slightly pink at the mention of their intimate dance, and seemed to have an internal struggle about something.

"Well, it's bloody hard to hold a grudge when you apologize like _that._ " She grumbled.

He put on a mock frown, "Oh but that's not the end of it, fair lady," Harry said while waggling his eyebrows. "Will you accompany me to the seventh floor?" 

"You mean you want me to walk all the way from here to the highest floor?" She whined. "I've been patrolling this ruddy castle for the past hour already."

His little act dropped a bit, "It'll be worth it," He said softly. "Please?"

At her nod, he grabbed her hand, and they were off.

* * *

Being dragged around the castle this late at night wasn't her idea of fun, but when Harry gave her those puppy dog eyes, Tracey found it _very_ hard to say no. 

Not to mention that they were currently holding hands, whether he knew it or not, she was fighting a losing battle to not blush like a stereotypical schoolgirl. This was a very different Harry to the one she knew, he was more.... peppy? If that was the right word, obnoxiously chipper? Ah, well. Whatever it was, it weirded her out a little.

"What's up with you?"

He barely looked back, "What d'you mean?"

"You're surprisingly chipper for someone who just made a big apology."

"Well, it worked out didn't it? What's there not to be happy about?"

He was being evasive, despite his smooth reply.

It was not until that they had a near miss with Filch, one where the caretaker heard Harry laugh at one of Tracey's snarky replies, but a suit of armour fell over somewhere else nearby, allowing them to give him the slip, that it all clicked in her head.

"Merlin's pants!" She exclaimed, dropping his hand in shock.

"Why are we discussing the clothing of a long dead wizard?"

"You drank that luck potion! Felix Felicis!"

"Oh that, of course."

Tracey gaped at him, "That feels like cheating somehow."

For the first time tonight, he looked nervous.

"Well I... I figured I could use some luck." He said, not looking at her. "It was important to me that you listened and accepted my apology. Besides, I don't think that the potion works like that, if you cursed me on sight, it might have just missed or I would have dodged, the potion can't control or influence your mind." 

"Oh." She said, going a little pink. "Well, I guess that makes sense, carry on, then."

Harry took her hand once more, and a few minutes later, they stopped in a random corridor on the seventh floor.

As if sensing the question that was on her tongue, he spoke, a hint of cockiness in his voice.

"Watch this." 

Harry then began pacing back and forth without uttering another word. 

Just as she was about to speak up, a door formed in the wall. 

"What the hell?"

He flashed her a grin, before beckoning her through the door. 

"Welcome to the room of requirement."

Tracey marvelled at the sight before her, the room was spacious, but not massive, there was a comfortable looking sofa, with a fire place near it. 

"Is this your idea of a date?" 

He laughed, "Well... uh, yeah, actually." 

They walked over to the sofa and sat down, Harry still had her hand in his own. He took a deep breath and then....

"I fancy you."

* * *

Tracey's dumbfounded look did not help his already faltering confidence, he could feel the luck potion wearing off.

There was a long pause.

"Um, Trace? Could you please say something? Kinda worrying me-"

What he was going to say was cut off, because Tracey's lips were on his as she nearly tackled him onto the sofa. Her hands grabbed at his robes, and before long he was kissing her back. Harry hadn't had much practice, not since Cho last year. He liked to think that so far it was going well, if Tracey's small whimper was anything to go by. 

When they parted, both had matching grins on their faces.

"So I guess it's safe to say you feel the same?" He joked.

"Ha, ha. Yes, you prat, of course I do."

Harry's smile grew even wider, before he swooped back in for another kiss. It was after hours, and she was a prefect, but Harry was sure that the room could create a bed if necessary...

It seemed that thanks to Felix Felicis, or even just his own charm, things worked out okay in the end. 

Apparently all he needed was a little bit of luck.

_**Fin** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of the first section comes pretty much straight from the books, I of course, do not claim ownership over it, but it was too good to pass up, a bit of wish fulfilment on my part. But that's the end of the story! For now anyway, I had a nice idea to maybe add in some one shots of their relationship every once in awhile when the mood hits. I'm very new at writing so every story I publish is a step up for me, so this was fun to do.


End file.
